Department for Transport

Motorways: Air Pollution

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library a copy of all scoping reports on air quality in respect of motorway improvement schemes produced in the last three years.

Mr John Hayes: A copy of each Environmental Assessment Report produced for motorway improvement schemes in the last three years will be placed in the House Library by 30 January 2015. It should be noted that Air Quality scoping reports are not produced as individual documents for motorway improvement schemes, but air quality is considered as part of the overall environmental scoping exercise which is undertaken for each project in line with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges Volume 11 Section 2 parts 4 and 6. The results of the scoping exercise provide the basis for the subsequent Environment Assessment Report which provides decision makers and the public with an accessible document which: Describes and reports the environmental assessment activities;Provides a clearly auditable trail of assessment decisions; andProvides clear information on environmental mitigation to be implemented by a project.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rate of interest is charged on late payments of rent on properties let out by HS2 Ltd under the sale and rent back scheme.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The rate of interest charged on late payments of rent is 4% above Bank of England base rate. This applies to late payments of rent on all properties let out by HS2 Ltd. The company does not differentiate between properties with a sale and rent back arrangement or other rental properties.

Christmas

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the name of the duty Minister in his Department for each day during the most recent parliamentary recess.

Claire Perry: The Ministers on duty for this parliamentary recess were as follows: 19 - 23 December (inc) – Rt Hon John Hayes MP24 - 27 December (inc) – Robert Goodwill MP28 - 31 December (inc) - Baroness Kramer1 - 4 January (inc) – Claire Perry MP All Ministers were fully briefed and involved on any issues in their portfolios throughout the recess period.

Christmas

Mr John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the duty Minister in his Department was on each day of the parliamentary Christmas recess 2014-15.

Claire Perry: The Ministers on duty for this parliamentary recess were as follows: 19 - 23 December (inc) – Rt Hon John Hayes MP24 - 27 December (inc) – Robert Goodwill MP28 - 31 December (inc) - Baroness Kramer1 - 4 January (inc) – Claire Perry MP All Ministers were fully briefed and involved on any issues in their portfolios throughout the recess period.

Shrewsbury Station

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will direct Arriva Trains and Network Rail to work on important maintenance issues at Shrewsbury Station.

Claire Perry: Network Rail is operationally independent. The maintenance of Shrewsbury station and its station facilities is the joint responsibility of Network Rail, as the landlord and owner of the freehold of this station and the Station Facility Owner, Arriva Trains Wales. This is in accordance with their respective obligations under both the Station Access Conditions and the relevant station lease. However, I look forward to the debate on this issue which the Hon. Member has secured on 14 January.

Driving: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration his Department gave to using the Welsh and Scottish flags for licences issued to drivers in Wales and Scotland respectively.

Claire Perry: The Department has considered giving motorists a choice of national symbol. The excessive cost involved in making the systems and other changes required to offer this choice means this is impractical. To ensure that the cost is kept as low as possible national symbols other than the Union flag will not be included.

Driving: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of implementation of the decision to display the Union flag on driving licences in Wales, Scotland and England.

Claire Perry: The cost of putting the Union flag on all licences issued to drivers in England, Scotland and Wales is expected to be £188,000.

Driving: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what public consultation has been undertaken in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England on the decision to display the Union flag on driving licences in Wales, Scotland and England.

Claire Perry: No public consultation has been carried out on the decision to display the Union flag on driving licences.

Buses: Safety Belts

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Department's publication Department for Transport Ninth Statement of New Regulation, updated on 30 December 2014, whether he plans to bring forward secondary legislation to ensure that children aged three to 14 wear seat belts while travelling on coaches.

Mr Robert Goodwill: It is the Department’s intention to bring forward secondary legislation to ensure that children are required to wear seat belts while travelling on coaches. Adults over the age of 14 already have this requirement imposed on them, and the intention is to extend this to children as expressed in the Government’s Ninth Statement of New Regulation.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Non-domestic Rates

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of small firms and shops in (a) England, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) Haltemprice and Howden constituency which will be affected by the reduction in business rates.

Kris Hopkins: Holding answer received on 15 December 2014



My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes: doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 385,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 190,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief; a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures; increasing the temporary discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 from £1,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 300,000 properties in England; extending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000. These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including: a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops; allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property; business rates relief for empty new builds; and allowing businesses to pay their business rate bills over 12 months, in order to assist with their cash flow. Central Government also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.The Department does not collect data on a constituency basis, but Haltemprice and Howden constituency lies entirely within the East Riding of Yorkshire Council boundary. Table 1 attached shows the number of properties in 2014-15 within the East Riding of Yorkshire Council boundary that have benefitted from business rates measures extended in this year’s autumn statement.  



Table - East Riding of Yorkshire Council 
(Word Document, 21.59 KB)

Council Housing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on their responsibility to inform other local authorities when rehousing their residents to those authorities; and what steps his Department takes to ensure that such guidance is followed.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Afghanistan

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met Dr Husn Banu Ghazanfar, the Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the Minister responsible for human rights, met Dr Husn Banu Ghazanfar during the Women's Rights and Empowerment in Afghanistan Symposium in Oslo on the 23rd November 2014. Dr Ghazanfar also met the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Northover, on 3 December at the Ayenda Conference in London along with members of the Afghan Civil Society which was an associate event of the London Conference on Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Dr Ghazanfar’s programme was cut short and she was unable to have further meetings as planned. The UK Government is working closely with the government of Afghanistan, including Dr Ghazanfar, to improve the status of women and girls in Afghanistan, so that they can participate as fully as possible in a future, peaceful Afghan state.

Afghanistan

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what changes his Department is planning to the number of its staff based in Afghanistan.

Mr Philip Hammond: The total number of UK civilian staff in Afghanistan, excluding security and logistics personnel, will reduce from approximately 180 staff at present to approximately 110 staff by 2015.

Syria

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next expects the Friends of Syria Group to meet.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Core Group of the Friends of Syria countries (UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and United Arab Emirates – also known as the London 11) meets at regular intervals at both senior official and ministerial level. The UK is a leading member and the group most recently met at senior official level on 10 November 2014 in London. There are currently no fixed plans for a next meeting but the group will reconvene when it is appropriate to do so. The group remains committed to helping end the long-running Syrian crisis.

Iraq

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what requests the UK has received for additional support from the Kurdistan regional government.

Mr Philip Hammond: The UK remains committed to the stability and security of Iraq. To date we have provided substantial support to the Iraqi government and Kurdish authorities to combat the ISIL threat, including airstrikes, Intelligence, surveillance and targeting support, training and lethal and non-lethal military equipment. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) submit formal requests for assistance to the international coordination cell in Erbil, the Organisation for Security Cooperation Iraq (OSC-I), on a weekly basis. We continue to look at ways in which we can support Kurdish forces, in coordination with the federal government of Iraq, and consider additional requests for equipment or training as they are received.

Russia

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on the interception of Russian aircraft by NATO forces over the Baltic.

Mr Philip Hammond: The UK has made no direct representations to the government of Russia on this issue. We strongly support recent comments made by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary General Stoltenberg calling on Russia to obey the norms of international air traffic. On 2 December NATO Foreign Ministers also agreed on the need to maintain contact through NATO/Russia military channels to help ensure that Russian military flights, or naval activities, do not give rise to unintended accidents or escalation.

Iraq

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security situation around Mount Sinjar.

Mr Philip Hammond: I welcome the military operations conducted by Iraqi forces in northern Iraq, to remove Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the area of Mount Sinjar. Reports suggest that early in these operations Kurdish Peshmerga, supported by Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition airstrikes, were able quickly to remove ISIL from villages and towns north of Mount Sinjar. The situation remains fluid as fighting continues but on 6 January Iraqi forces were reported to have retaken much of Sinjar city.

Iraq

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iraqi counterpart on the refugees on Mount Sinjar.

Mr Philip Hammond: The UK has worked closely with coalition partners and Iraqi authorities, including the Kurdistan Regional Government, to alleviate the humanitarian situation around Mount Sinjar including delivering humanitarian aid by airdrops. In August, hundreds of Yazidi civilians became trapped around Mount Sinjar when fleeing ISIL. We are in close contact with partner agencies, including the UN, on the humanitarian situation in Iraq. We regularly discuss the situation in Iraq with the Iraqi government at both ministerial and official level, most recently when I met Iraqi Foreign Minister HE Dr Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, on 5 January 2015.

Syria

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Hadi al-Bahra on the humanitarian situation in Kobane.

Mr Philip Hammond: We had regular discussions with Hadi al-Bahra, while he was President of the Syrian National Coalition, most notably through the UK Special Representative for Syria. The UK Special Representative last met President al-Bahra on 18 December. I held detailed discussions with President al-Bahra on the situation in Syria when they met in London on 10 November 2014. All of these discussions covered the humanitarian situation throughout the whole of Syria as well as UK support to the Syrian opposition and the wider political process. The Department for International Development have already responded to the urgent needs of Syrian refugees that have fled from Kobane to Turkey, by working with the relevant authorities and our partners to provide mattresses, non-food items and shelter for distribution to the most needy families. We stand ready to respond positively should further aid be needed.

Russia

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps at an EU-level to increase the size of the sanctions regime against Russia in response to the security situation in Ukraine.

Mr Philip Hammond: As the Prime Minister made clear to President Putin at the G20 meeting in Brisbane, unless Russia follows through on its obligations, and we see real progress towards peace in Ukraine, with full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, additional sanctions could be imposed. We are working with partners on contingency plans for that eventuality. Sanctions are an important element in the range of diplomatic measures we are undertaking to effect a change in Russia’s behaviour. EU sanctions against Russia are regularly reviewed. Most recently, on 18 December, the Council of the European Union expanded the scope of sanctions in Crimea and Sevastopol, and on 4 December sectoral sanctions against Russian companies were revised.

Russia

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of EU-wide sanctions on Russia's policy towards Ukraine.

Mr Philip Hammond: Sanctions are an important element of the range of diplomatic measures we are undertaking to effect a change in Russia’s behaviour. EU sanctions are delivering a significant cost to Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The fall in the global oil price has driven an economic slump in Russia, including a shrinking economy and sharply declining currency. The wide-ranging restrictions of EU and US economic sanctions are exacerbating these negative trends. For Russia to remove the pressure of sanctions it will need to change its policy towards Ukraine.

Ukraine

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implementation of the Minsk Protocol by all parties to the agreement.

Mr Philip Hammond: We are concerned by continued breaches of the ceasefire which was agreed in Minsk on 5 September and urge all parties to implement the Minsk Protocol in full so peace and stability can return to eastern Ukraine. Russia’s actions - troop movements, further convoys without the permission of the Ukrainian government, and Russia’s respect for the results of illegitimate separatist elections - are unacceptable. These actions have increased tensions in Ukraine and further call into question the sincerity of Russia’s commitment to de-escalate tensions and fulfill commitments they made in Minsk and elsewhere.

Syria

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is giving to the Syrian opposition to assist delivery of essential services.

Mr Philip Hammond: In the current financial year, the UK has allocated £27 million of non-humanitarian aid to support the work of the National Coalition and Interim Government, local councils, non-government organisations, civil society, media and human rights activists in Syria. We are providing a range of support to Syrians to help save lives, bolster civil society, counter extremism, promote human rights and accountability, deliver basic governance and help lay the foundations for a more peaceful and inclusive future for Syria. As part of this, in the past 12 months the Government has provided £2.3 million in support for local governance in opposition-controlled areas in Syria. This funding has enabled the training of local officials to help them ensure the provision of essential services to ordinary Syrians in their towns and villages, including vital infrastructure repair and rehabilitation projects which meet the needs of local people. We plan for this project to continue for at least one more year. The UK is committed to helping the Syrian people who continue to suffer after more than three years of conflict.

Iraq

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with the EU's new High Representative for Foreign Affairs on other EU member states' contribution towards the fight against ISIL in Iraq.

Mr Philip Hammond: I have regular discussions with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs on the EU’s strategy to tackle ISIL, both bilaterally and directly in EU meetings. Conclusions of EU meetings are available on EU websites.

Iraq

Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed the conflict against ISIL with representatives of the Kurdistan regional government.

Mr Philip Hammond: My officials in Erbil, Baghdad and London discuss the conflict against ISIL with representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on a regular basis.I last discussed this issue with KRG representatives during my visit to Erbil on 13 October in meetings with both KRG President Masoud Barzani and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.The Minister for the Middle East, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), discussed this issue with the Head of the KRG’s Department for Foreign Relations, Mr Falah Mustafa, on Thursday 11 December.

Israel

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Israel over its decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv discussed the decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues with the Israeli Deputy National Security Adviser and the Senior National Security Council Director Foreign Policy on 4 January. He urged them to reverse it.

Thailand

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what consular support is being offered to Craig Lindley in Thailand.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our officials in Bangkok are aware of Mr Craig Lindley’s hospitalisation in Thailand and are providing advice and support to Mr Lindley’s friend and brother who are also in Thailand. This includes advice on visa extensions, information about medical repatriation companies, and obtaining updates from the hospital to pass on to Mr Lindley’s parents in the UK. Our officials have also been in touch with your office and have provided advice on options available to the family for payment of the hospital bills. Our Embassy in Bangkok will continue to monitor the case closely and maintain contact with the hospital and with Mr Lindley’s friends and family.

Pakistan

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Pakistan about the case of Aasia Bibi; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 5 December my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), stressed our concerns about Pakistan’s blasphemy law with Prime Minister Sharif. I also raised our concerns and Ms Bibi’s case with the Pakistan High Commissioner on 28 October. We hope the verdict will be overturned on appeal and will continue to raise our concerns about this and similar cases.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Engineering: Females

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which organisations have been awarded funding from the Employer Ownership Fund to train female engineers; and how much each such organisation has been allocated.

Nick Boles: The offer for support for women in engineering under the Employer Ownership Fund was closed for applications on 5 December 2014. The applications are being assessed and I hope to be able to announce any successful applications shortly.

Vocational Training

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what forecast his Department has made of the spending on the 2014-15 Employee Ownership Fund.

Nick Boles: Our latest estimate of spending on the Employer Ownership Fund during 2014-15 is £0.72m.

Apprentices

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students started a higher level apprenticeship at levels 4, 5 and 6 in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12 in each further education and higher education institution in England.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students started a higher level apprenticeship at levels 4, 5 and 6 in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12 by each type of provider.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students started a higher level apprenticeship at levels 4, 5 and 6 in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12 in each parliamentary constituency.

Nick Boles: As the requested table is large, information on the number of Higher Apprenticeship starts by each further education provider in England has been placed in the libraries of the house. The information is not available for Higher Education Institutions.   Table 1 shows the number of Higher Apprenticeship starts by provider type.   Information on the number of Higher Apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/382956/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-level-and-age.xls   Table 1: Higher Apprenticeship Starts by Provider Type, 2011/12 to 2013/14 Provider Type2011/122012/132013/14General FE and Tertiary College1,3004,0003,100Other Public Funded100200100Private Sector Public Funded2,3005,5005,800Sixth Form College-100100Specialist College--100Higher Apprenticeship Total 3,700  9,800  9,200  Notes: 1) The source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). 2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10 except for Totals, which are rounded to the nearest 100 ; “-“ represents a base value of less than 5.

City Link

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings officials or Ministers of his Department have had with representatives of City Link in the last 12 months.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

City Link

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Government plans to provide to the City Link employees made redundant on 31 December 2014.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Music: Licensing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of a music licensing and collections agency.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Driving: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Transport prior to the decision to display the Union flag on driving licences in Wales, Scotland and England.

Alun Cairns: Prior to the decision to display the Union flag on driving licences, I had been in contact with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport about the case for including an optional Welsh flag on driving licences.

Driving: Licensing

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will take steps to ensure that the Welsh flag can be displayed on driving licences in Wales.

Alun Cairns: Displaying the Union flag on driving licences strengthens the UK’s sense of national identity, and Wales continues to be an important and integral part of this Union. As part of the decision making process, the Wales Office ensured that the Department for Transport gave due consideration to whether people should be allowed to choose which UK national flag to have on their licence. This work showed that the cost of offering a choice of national flags was excessive. We were keen to ensure that costs were kept to a minimum.The inclusion of the Union flag has no effect on the availability of bilingual driving licenses.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: East of England

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free early years education places were provided in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex and (d) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The attached spreadsheet provides the number of part time equivalent funded early education places from 1997 to 2014 and the number of children in receipt of some funded early education provision from 2008 to 2014. The variation between areas will reflect local demand. The latest statistics can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2014



Part_time_funded_early_education_places
(Excel SpreadSheet, 50 KB)

GCSE: Disadvantaged

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils on free school meals gained five good GCSEs in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK in 2014.

Mr David Laws: 2013/14 key stage 4 attainment figures for pupils eligible for free school meals in England, Lancashire and Ribble Valley, will become available on 29 January 2015 following the 2013/14 release of ‘GCSE and equivalent attainment by pupil characteristics’.   The Department for Education does not hold figures for other countries in the United Kingdom.

Regional School Commissioners

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff are employed in each regional school commissioner's office; and what the annual budget is of each such office.

Mr Edward Timpson: Each Regional Schools Commissioner’s office employs between 6 and 8 members of staff and has a budget of approximately £460,000 for the 2014-15 financial year.

Children: Walking

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of children walking to school.

Mr David Laws: Local authorities are required to ensure that safe walking routes are available to those pupils who are expected to walk to school. They are also under a duty to promote sustainable travel and transport. The duty applies to children and young people of compulsory school age who travel to receive education or training in a local authority’s area. Local walking, cycling, and bus strategies should inform the local authority’s performance of its duty to promote sustainable school travel. On 18 July 2014, the Department for Education issued revised home to school travel guidance which gives examples and provides further information on sustainable transport, including walking to and from school. The guidance is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

Children in Care

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average distance from home of young people accommodated in secure children's homes in each year since May 2010.

Mr Edward Timpson: The average distances from home of young people accommodated in secure children’s homes since March 2010 are given in the table below. Distance from home of young people accommodated in secure homesYears ending 31 March 2010 to 2014Coverage: England YearNumber of children accommodated in secure homes at 31 MarchAverage distance of the secure home from young person’s home (miles)1,2,3201020062201116047201218055201320056201420072Source: SSDA903 collection 1. Distance is measured in a straight line from the young person’s home to the secure home.2. As at 31st March 2014 there were only 16 secure units operating in England therefore most placements will inevitably be at a distance from the young person’s home.3. Based on children looked after who are placed in secure accommodation. A full list of secure accommodation can be found in table 2 of the Statistical First Release, “Children accommodated in secure children's homes: 31 March 2014” available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-secure-children-s-homes  Numbers of children are rounded to the nearest 10.

Ministry of Justice

Indonesia

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on establishing a bilateral prisoner transfer agreement with Indonesia.

Andrew Selous: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have shared a model prisoner transfer agreement with the Indonesian authorities. Unfortunately at present Indonesia does not have the necessary legislation in place to facilitate prisoner transfers, without which it cannot enter into prisoner transfer arrangements. We are aware that other countries are also seeking prisoner transfer arrangements with Indonesia, and remain open to collaborating with them and with Indonesian authorities to develop their legislation.

Interpreters

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the success rate in supplying interpreters was under the Capita TI interpreting contract in each month from January 2012 to March 2014.

Andrew Selous: The percentage success rates for the Capita Translation and Interpreting contract are published and can be found using the below link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-the-use-of-language-services-in-courts-and-tribunals-january-2012-december-2013 The interpreting contract was introduced to tackle the inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the previous system. The contract has delivered significant improvements so far and we now have a system that is robust, sustainable and able to deliver a quality service at an affordable level. As a result of the contract, we have spent £27m less in the first two years it has been running, and it continues to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Secure Training Centres

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average distance from home of young people accommodated in secure training centres in each year since May 2010.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average distance from home of young people accommodated in secure young offender institutions in each year since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: Overall crime and proven offending by young people has fallen in recent years. Fewer young people have entered the criminal justice system and as a result fewer young people have ended up in custody. To deliver the best value for taxpayers we have reduced the number of youth custody places. The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is responsible for the placement of young people in custody. Young people are placed in establishments that can most effectively manage their individual needs. While every effort is made to place young people as close to home as possible, other factors are taken into account in placement decisions, such as age, suitability of regime, risk of self-harm and the risk of harm to other. The YJB holds data on the distance from home of young people accommodated in Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions. “Home” is defined as a young person's address at the time of placement. If no address is recorded, the address of the Youth Offending Team overseeing the young person is used as a proxy. Table A: Average distance from home (in miles) for young people in Secure Training Centres and in Under 18 Young Offender Institutions from May 2010YearAverage Distance from Home (miles) for Young OffendersSecure Training CentresYoung Offender InstitutionsMay 2010 - April 20114945May 2011 - April 20125250May 2012 - April 20135151May 2013 - April 20145450 Data from April 2012 has been taken from eAsset, the booking system used by the Youth Justice Board for England & Wales to place young people in to custody. Data prior to April 2012 comes from the Youth Justice Board’s Secure Accommodation Clearing House System, the booking system used prior to eAsset. This data is based on 12 monthly snapshots of the custodial population, taken on the last Friday of the month or first Friday of the following month, depending on which is nearer to the actual month end. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time. Data from April 2013 is provisional. The figures for the 2013/14 financial year will be finalised in the 2013/14 Youth Justice Statistics on 29th January 2015 and the figures for the 2014/15 financial year will be finalised in the 2014/15 Youth Justice Statistics which are anticipated for publication in January 2016.

Secure Training Centres

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 218894, what the specific distance from home was for each of the (a) seven young people placed closer to home and (b) nine young people placed further from home.

Andrew Selous: Overall crime and proven offending by young people has fallen in recent years. Fewer young people have entered the criminal justice system and as a result fewer people have ended up in custody. To deliver the best value for money for taxpayers we have reduced the number of youth justice places. Young people are placed in establishments that can most effectively manage their individual needs. Factors such as age, suitability of regime, risk of self-harm or to others, all have to be taken into account. Disclosure of specific information about individual offenders may lead to the identification of those offenders and a potential breach of the Data Protection Act. . The table below therefore sets out, in banded categories, the distances from home for young people placed in secure establishments following their transferral from Hassockfield Secure Training Centre; Table A: Table showing the banded distance from home (in miles) of the young people after the decommissioning of Hassockfield Secure Training Centre.Miles (banded)Number of young people who were placed closer to homeNumber of young people who were placed further from home0-503251-10024101-15020151+03 “Home” is defined as a young person's address at the time of placement.This data is operational and uses a calculation of distance travelled by road rather than distance as the crow flies. This information comes from the eAsset database, the booking system used by the YJB to place young people into custody. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

Prime Minister

Radicalism

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Prime Minister, when he last received an update on how effectively steps recommended by the Extremism Taskforce have been implemented.

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of progress in implementing each of the steps recommended by the Extremism Taskforce.

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Prime Minister, who is responsible (a) in each department and (b) across government for overseeing implementation of the steps recommended by the Extremism Taskforce.

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Prime Minister, what processes and organisational structures are in place to ensure that a cross-government approach is taken to tackling extremism.

Mr David Cameron: I refer my hon. Friend to the evidence I gave to the Liaison Committee on 16 December 2014, in particular the responses I gave to Q54 and Q68. A transcript can be found on the parliament.uk website.

Ministry of Defence

Shipping

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Merchant Navy to the aims and objectives of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Navy

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy officers have participated in the Royal Navy/Merchant Navy Voyage Scheme in each of the last 15 years for which figures are available.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Numerical Criteria for Airworthiness (Adelard 2002) produced for ALTG_ADRPI, under contract MAP 2b/1351.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the document, 201110314 Collision Warning System Analysis Impact V1 3, produced by Qinetiq in November 2011.

Mr Philip Dunne: A copy of the Numerical Criteria for Airworthiness (Adelard 2002) is attached.Version 1.3 of the document '201110314 Collision Warning System Analysis' has been superseded and is no longer centrally held. A copy could be provided only at disproportionate cost. 



Numerical Criteria for Airworthiness
(PDF Document, 3.69 MB)

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2014 to Question 215200, how the overall tolerability level was calculated; and how the figure of 0.84 per 1,000 was arrived at for the Tornado when the level for one primary accident set, mid-air collision, was 0.86 per 1,000.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Offences against Children

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reporting protocols are for allegations of child abuse in the armed forces.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Crimes of Violence

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) domestic violence were made to the (i) Royal Military Police, (ii) Royal Naval Police and (iii) Royal Air Force Police in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Crimes of Violence

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reporting protocols are for allegations of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) domestic violence in the armed forces.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Offences against Children

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of child abuse there have been in the armed forces in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Private Military and Security Companies

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will detail (a) the number and (b) the cost of contracts with private security companies in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: Holding answer received on 08 January 2015



 This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes a range of trade, industry and contract statistics, including a list of suppliers to whom the MOD paid more than £5 million in each financial year. The latest information covering 2013-14 is available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2014.

Falkland Islands

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to ensure a continued British military presence on the Falkland Islands.

Mr Mark Francois: The Government remains fully committed to the protection of the Falkland Islanders and is vigilant at all times. Our overall military posture in the South Atlantic is assessed as being appropriate and the Falkland Islands remain well-defended. However, we keep the situation under constant review, and as such contingency plans are in place to increase the military footprint in the South Atlantic, if required.

Gibraltar

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what role his Department is playing in preventing illegal incursion into Gibraltarian waters by Spanish vessels.

Mr Mark Francois: The Government takes its responsibility for protecting the sovereignty of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters very seriously. The Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron is at the forefront of our response to Spanish incursions, challenging unlawful actions by Spanish vessels. These challenges and subsequent diplomatic action by the Foreign Office are vital to demonstrating that the UK does not accept the practice, and to preserving our sovereignty over the waters. We shall continue to work with the Government of Gibralter on this issue.

Tanks

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria his Department used in awarding the contract for the next generation of tanks.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Helicopters: Crew

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many helicopter crew sets there are in each of the armed services.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Royal Navy has 165 sets of operational helicopter crews, including 46 in the Commando Helicopter Force. The Army has 100, and the Royal Air Force has 120, including 28 in the Search and Rescue Force.

Military Aircraft

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military aircraft there were in service in (a) May 2010 and (b) the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 December 2014 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Reserves (Julian Brazier) to Question 218827 giving a breakdown, by type, of the number of military aircraft in service. Figures for May 2010 are not readily available. The figures shown below cover RAF fixed wing aircraft and are the average for January 2010. Figures for rotary aircraft cover all three Services. "In service" has been taken to mean the effective fleet, which includes all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.  At January 2010 Aircraft type – Fixed WingIn service fleetBAe 1462BAe 1256C-176Dominie9Harrier74Hawk T1129Hawk T217Hercules C130K14Hercules C130J24Nimrod MR26Nimrod R12Sentinel5Sentry5Tornado F322Tornado GR4137Tristar9Tucano93Typhoon64VC1015Vigilant65Viking82Aircraft type – RotaryIn service fleetApache67Bell 2128Chinook Mk2/348Gazelle27Lynx Mk327Lynx Mk777Lynx Mk833Lynx Mk9/9A23Merlin Mkl42Merlin Mk3/3A28N34Puma43Sea King Mk3/3a25Sea King 4/642Sea King Mk515Sea King Mk7 (SKASac)13 



 Hansard Extract 18 December 2014
(Word Document, 31 KB)

Helicopters: Repairs and Maintenance

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which sites are used by his Department for helicopter maintenance.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Helicopters: Training

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the existing MoD or private sites with helicopter simulation facilities are; which services use such sites; and what the annual operating cost of each such site is.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Helicopters: Repairs and Maintenance

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy spend on helicopter maintenance annually.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Work and Pensions

Atos Healthcare

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medical examinations in disability cases dealt with by Atos required a doctor in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months.

Mr Mark Harper: In 2014, there were 29,821 assessments completed nationally that required a doctor to undertake a Work Capability Assessment. 121 of these were completed for the Grimsby postcodes DN15 to DN20, DN31 to DN41 and DN55.

Atos Healthcare

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions his Department has imposed on Atos in response to delays in medical examinations in the last 12 months.

Mr Mark Harper: We have taken a robust approach to managing the contract with Atos Healthcare and have applied financial remedies such as service credits and awarded fees where and when appropriate. From 1 March 2015, MAXIMUS Health and Human Services will take over the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments.

Disability Living Allowance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of extending the higher rate of disability living allowance, including the Motability rate, to children under the age of three.

Mr Mark Harper: No such estimate has been made.

Atos Healthcare

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average delay has been in medical examinations of disability cases conducted by Atos in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months; what the main causes were of such delays; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: Official statistics for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) processing times are not readily available and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment Schemes

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure the quicker payment of benefits to those on temporary work placements.

Esther McVey: Where someone takes-up work of 16 hours or more each week, either on a temporary or permanent basis, they are treated as being in remunerative work and their JSA claim is terminated and any outstanding payment issued to the claimant. If a person’s temporary work ends and they wish to re-claim JSA within 26 weeks of the last day of a previous award and providing there has been no change to their circumstances, Jobcentre Plus has a streamlined process known as Rapid Reclaim/Reclaim Gather to ensure claims are dealt with quickly. Additionally, all claimants can be considered for a Short Term Benefit Advance at the start of any new claim. Jobseekers engaged on work experience arranged through their Jobcentre still continue to receive their benefit uninterrupted, provided they continue to satisfy the conditions of entitlement. Universal Credit helps to ensure people are better off in work than on benefits and abolishes the limit to the number of hours someone can work each week. A claimant’s UC payment adjusts automatically according to the number of ours worked. As claimants increase their hours their UC payment will gradually reduce, ensuring they are always better of in work. We want to ensure that we minimise the administrative burden on claimants so that those who move off Universal Credit on a temporary basis can return to it quickly and easily as possible. The Universal Credit re-claims and re-award processes allow this to happen for certain claimants when they become re-entitled to Universal Credit within 6 months of a previous Universal Credit claim ending by re-using information already held on the claimant as part of their previous Universal Credit claim. The re-claim and re-award processes also ensure that these claimants have a shorter wait until they are paid Universal Credit by re-instating the previous assessment period from the claimant’s previous Universal Credit award.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) begun and (b) stopped paying the under-occupancy penalty in 2014-15 to date.

Mr Mark Harper: We published an analysis of the changes to the number of people subject to a reduction in their Housing Benefit award from May to December 2013. This was published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/removal-of-the-spare-room-subsidy-analysis-july-2014 It is not possible at this time to update this information within the disproportionate cost limit. I will however consider if an update can be published in the future.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received in the last two years about the adequacy of his Department's hardship payments scheme.

Esther McVey: The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Work Programme sub-contractors have received no referrals since the inception of that programme.

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold this information. The level of referrals is a commercial matter between the prime provider and their sub-contractors.

Trussell Trust

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he last met representatives of the Trussell Trust.

Esther McVey: The Secretary of State last met with representatives from the Trussell Trust in September 2014. The Department and its Ministers engages regularly with a wide range of organisations.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Liverpool and (b) England were subject to sanctions in the week commencing 22 December 2014; and how many of those people had benefits withheld for that period.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Nature Conservation: Cybercrime

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional provision she plans to make to ensure the level of monitoring of wildlife cybercrime does not fall following the expiration of funding for a cybercrime investigations post within the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

George Eustice: We recognise the important work carried out by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). Defra and the Home Office have committed £544,000 to help support the NWCU until March 2016.   In addition, Defra has provided funding to the NWCU this year to carry out a specific project on wildlife crime on the internet. We will continue to liaise with the NWCU on its work on this important topic, including considering the findings of its report.   The National Crime Agency (NCA) and its law enforcement partners focus on disrupting those serious and organised criminals who present the highest risk to the UK and its communities, including in areas such as child sexual exploitation and modern slavery. Where high-risk organised criminals are engaged in the illegal wildlife trade, the NCA will lead, support or coordinate an appropriate level of response. That response could include the NCA’s niche capabilities such as the National Cyber Crime Unit or its global network of liaison officers.

Nature Conservation: Crime

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 11 of her Department's publication, Red Tape Challenge - Environment Theme Implementation Plan, what the reasons are for the review of Regulations on Control of Trade in Endangered Species being delayed from April 2014 until 2015.

George Eustice: The Review has not progressed as swiftly as originally intended due in part to the volume and complexity of the work needed fully to assess the anticipated impacts of the proposals for changes to the Regulations, and in part to the focus required on other urgent priorities, including the preparations for the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade and its follow up.   In addition to the Red Tape Challenge commitment to rationalise the number of CITES-related pieces of domestic legislation currently in place, the review has looked at, amongst others, proposals relating to new requirements brought about by amended EU regulations, the designation of ports of entry and exit to be used when importing and exporting CITES specimens and the updating of enforcement requirements to reflect the evolution of the illegal wildlife trade and enforcement trends.   The work on the Regulations is now nearing completion and it remains our intention to issue as soon as possible a public consultation on proposals to update and improve the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations, together with the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Ports of Entry) Regulations.

Lead Ammunition Group

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects the Lead Ammunition Group to report.

George Eustice: The Lead Ammunition Group is independent of the Government and as such is not obliged to produce a report to the Government by a specified date. However, it is my understanding that the Group hopes to submit the report in 2015.

Ragworms

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations she has received on the commercial collection of ragworm in Sites of Special Scientific Interest; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra has received no recent representations on the commercial collection of rag worm in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).   As part of a SSSI notification Natural England provides a list of operations requiring Natural England's consent, which may include, for example, bait digging. None of the listed operations is permitted to be carried out without Natural England's prior written consent or the consent of another public body. Consent would only be given if the activity did not impact negatively on the designated feature of the SSSI.   Natural England has not recently received any notices for consent for bait digging (including specifically for rag worm collection).

Dogs: Animal Breeding

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential benefits of amending England's dog breeding legislation in a manner similar to that contained in the Animal Welfare (Breeding of Dogs) (Wales) Regulation 2014; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government considers that local authorities have the necessary powers to ensure the welfare of dogs at licensed dog breeding establishments under existing laws in England. In addition, my department wrote to all local authorities in England reminding them that the criteria for deciding if a dog breeder needs to be licensed is whether they are in the business of breeding and selling dogs, regardless of the number of litters bred or sold in a twelve month period.

Home Office

Legal Costs

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) external legal advice and counsel and (b) internal legal services in each of the last four years.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 10 December 2014



Home Office Legal Costs, by financial year Year Total £000s 2013-14 80,591 2012-13 65,436 2011-12 44,048 2010-11 39,485 Note On 1 October 2013, the Home Office legal branch transferred to the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (as part of a wider consolidation of government legal services). Thus, all historic spend on the Home Office legal branch has been treated as external legal costs, to ensure that year-on-year figures are comparable. This government has been working to remove the opportunities for abusive litigation in the immigration system. The Immigration Act 2014 has replaced the old multiple decision points with a single decision notice, cutting out the multiple opportunities to bring a legal challenge under the previous legislation. It also reduces the number of immigration decisions that can be appealed from 17 to 4, whilst introducing a quick and cost-effective system of Administrative Review to correct case-working errors – keeping unnecessary litigation out of the courts. It also makes more appeals non-suspensive, allowing us to deport certain harmful individuals before their appeals are heard if there is no risk of serious irreversible harm.

Radicalism

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of cross-government spending on tackling extremism since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which datasets her Department draws upon in checking if asylum seekers have criminal records; what improvements she is requiring in those datasets; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Conditions of Employment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seasonal staff on zero hour contracts that were extended in October 2014 until March 2015 this week were given four weeks' notice on 12 November 2014 that their contract would be terminated.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 09 January 2015



The Home Office does not employ staff on zero hour contracts.Border Force uses a seasonal workforce of temporary workers to assist with coverage at peak times, such as summer and Christmas. On 12 November 2014 Home Office recruitment wrote to 191 workers giving four weeks' notice that their current contracts would be ended on 12 December 2014.

Drugs: USA

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 217748, what assessment she has made of the implications for UK policy of the comments by William Brownfield on UN drug control conventions; and whether the Government plans to support the policy position expressed in those comments at international forums and the UN General Assembly.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Bail

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the change was in the average length of time spent by defendants on bail before charging between 2004 and 2014.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offenders: Deportation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story of 6 January 2015 on deport first, appeal later measures, how many of the nearly 800 foreign criminals that have been removed had been (a) convicted, (b) subject to a custodial sentence and (c) subject to a suspended or other non-custodial sentence.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Interest Rate Swap Transactions

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assurances he has received that agreements between the individual banks and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the interest rate swap redress scheme were identical.

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the potential fining of banks following the completion of the interest rate swap redress scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: No conversations have taken place between the Financial Conduct Authority and HM Treasury on the potential fining of the banks following the FCA redress scheme. Furthermore, HM Treasury had not had sight of the agreements held between the FCA and the individual banks. The nature of the agreements is a matter for the FCA as an independent regulator.   However, I took part in a debate on the FCA’s review scheme last month, along with my Hon. Friend, where the issue of the individual agreements was discussed. Following the debate, I wrote to the FCA to put forward my view that more transparency in this matter will help to provide greater assurance that the review has been conducted in a fully independent and impartial manner. I also encouraged the FCA to come to an agreement with the banks as soon as possible on what might be shared with the Treasury Select Committee.

Electronic Commerce: VAT

Toby Perkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that overseas retailers trading online stock which is located in the UK pay the appropriate level of VAT.

Andrea Leadsom: Supplies of goods are within the scope of UK VAT if the goods are actually in the UK at the time they are sold to the customer. HMRC are cracking down hard on all forms of tax evasion, regardless of where it occurs or who commits it. HMRC are determined to tackle deliberate non-compliance to ensure that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently to create a level playing field for all.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what rate of VAT is payable on eBooks (a) supplied by Amazon from Luxembourg and (b) supplied in the UK.

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds for comparative purposes on VAT taxes and rates on (a) books and (b) eBooks in other EU countries.

Mr David Gauke: E-books supplied from a business in Luxembourg to a consumer in the UK are currently subject to a 3% rate of VAT in Luxembourg. E- books supplied by a UK VAT registered business are subject to UK VAT at 20%. From 1 January 2015 UK VAT of 20% will apply to both. The European Commission publishes a summary of the VAT rates that apply in all Member States including those applicable to books and e-books. This is available on the Commission’s website at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf

Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of annual expenditure on tax credits is allocated to the administration of the programme.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the Rt Hon Member for Birkenhead to HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14.

Children: Day Care

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress HM Revenue and Customs has made in developing an online childcare support calculator to replace its current calculator; and whether the proposed new calculator will be ready by September 2015.

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HM Revenue and Customs will include the childcare element of universal credit in the online calculator it is developing alongside the tax-free childcare scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: HMRC are currently developing an online childcare calculator. This will be introduced in good time before the launch of Tax-Free Childcare and will replace existing online calculators that perform similar functions.

Solar Power: North Africa

Oliver Colvile: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide funding for the import of concentrated solar power from North Africa.

Danny Alexander: Under Electricity Market Reform, the Government’s Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme is the primary mechanism to support large scale electricity generation in the UK. Concentrated Solar Power is not currently an eligible technology for support from UK CfDs.   Under this scheme projects outside the UK are not currently eligible. The Government has been considering the benefits of supporting projects outside of the UK and published a paper in August 2014 setting out indicative areas of work that would need to be addressed to open the UK CfD scheme to eligible non-UK projects. This paper can be found here:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cfds-for-non-uk-renewable-electricity-projects

Banks: Loans

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve access to bank lending (a) in general and (b) for large-scale new housing developments.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has taken significant action to improve access to bank lending, notably through the Funding for Lending Scheme, as well as supporting non-bank lending channels via the British Business Bank   The Government is also implementing further major reforms to boost competition in the provision of smaller business finance through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill; these include the measures to improve availability of credit information on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to match SMEs rejected for finance with challenger banks and alternative finance providers.   The Government has also put in place a series of measures to unlock housing development by providing loans to fund major infrastructure and build costs of housing schemes through its Large Sites Infrastructure Programme, Get Britain Building Programme and Builders Finance Fund.

Fossil Fuels: Tax Yields

Margaret Curran: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect on oil and gas receipts of the fall in the price of Brent crude to $56 a barrel.

Mr David Gauke: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published forecasts for oil and gas revenues in the December 2014 Economic and Financial Outlook. The report shows that these tax receipts are expected to be £15.8bn over the forecast period. The March 2015 forecast will incorporate the impact of recent changes in the oil price.   The global fall in oil prices should provide a boost to the economy and support UK and global growth. Falling oil prices contributed to annual CPI inflation of 1.0 per cent in November, the lowest level of inflation in 12 years, and reductions in petrol and diesel prices, which are now at their lowest levels since September 2010. On 5th January 2015, diesel was down 18.28p/l on its July 2014 peak, at 117.93p/l, and petrol down 20.05p/l at 111.06p/l.

Public Sector Debt

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the National Debt has been between May 2010 and January 2015.

Mr David Gauke: Latest Public Sector Finances data is available up to November 2014. In May 2010 public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was £974.2 billion (62.7% of GDP). In November 2014 public sector net debt was £1457.2 billion (79.5% of GDP).   The latest OBR forecast shows that public sector net debt will peak at 81.1 percent of GDP in 2015-16, before starting to fall as a share of GDP in 2016-17. The government’s long-term economic plan is working, restoring the public finances to a sustainable path and delivering economic security for hardworking people.

Insurance: EU Law

Charles Hendry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost has been to the UK of the EU's Solvency II Initiative to date; and what recent estimate he has made of the cost of full implementation of that initiative.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury published an impact assessment on UK implementation of Solvency II in November 2011. The impact assessment can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/solvency-ii-framework-directive-2009138ec

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Heating: Carbon Emissions

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress has been made towards the decarbonisation of heating in the UK to date; what steps he is taking to further progress such decarbonisation; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The world first Renewable Heat Incentive has been supporting the installation of renewable heating systems in non-domestic buildings in Great Britain since November 2011 following this, the domestic RHI was introduced in April 2014 and already has just over 16,000 renewable heating systems in homes in Great Britain accredited to the scheme.In addition, the Government established the Heat Networks Delivery Unit in Sept 2013 and the Government’s strategy for decarbonising heat in the UK was set out in the 2013 document The Future of Heating: Meeting the challenge:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-heating-meeting-the-challenge.The Unit has already supported 91 Local Authorities with grants and expertise to develop 122 heat network projects across towns and cities in England and Wales.In order to tackle the decarbonisation challenge in industry, DECC and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are working with the eight most heat-intensive industrial sectors to produce individual roadmaps to 2050.

Committee on Climate Change

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what selection process is used to appoint members of the Climate Change Committee.

Amber Rudd: The Chair and members of the Committee on Climate Change are recruited according to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) procedures. In line with this, the selection must be fair and open. For example, appointments must be advertised publicly and each candidate must be assessed against the same published criteria.

Committee on Climate Change

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether members of the Climate Change Committee are permitted to have financial interests in businesses which might be affected by energy and climate change policy.

Amber Rudd: The Government and the Committee on Climate Change takes very seriously the need to ensure that board members have no conflicts in fulfilling their public duties. When appointing to the board, the Government follows Cabinet Office guidance about making public appointments that sets out the rules and transparency requirements which must be satisfied before public appointments can be made.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 21 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to M M Roberts.

Amber Rudd: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State replied to the rt. hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 7 January 2015. A copy of the reply is attached.



SoS Ed Davey Letter to G Kaufman 07.01.15
(PDF Document, 513.67 KB)

Solar Power

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the potential role of imported concentrated solar power in meeting the energy requirements of the UK.

Amber Rudd: I am aware of proposals to invest in concentrated solar power (CSP) projects in the desert regions of North Africa and the Middle East. The UK supports in principle such proposals as a means of providing local energy supply and economic development, reducing greenhouse emissions and potentially contributing to the EU’s security of electricity supply. We continue to monitor developments in this area. However, in present circumstances, geographical factors, costs, and the need to further reinforce electricity connections within the EU and linking the EU with third countries mean that the majority of Member States, including the UK, would not currently be in a position to benefit from imports of CSP generated electricity.

Solar Power: North Africa

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking in working with EU partners to encourage the development of concentrated solar power in the desert regions of North Africa as part of plans to meet the 15 per cent interconnections target for Europe.

Amber Rudd: The UK fully supports EU efforts to bring about further energy interconnection, both within the EU and linking the EU with third countries, in order to meet energy security and low carbon objectives. Developing concentrated solar power (CSP) in North Africa is potentially a part of these efforts among many others, although more research and development is required to demonstrate further improvements in CSP technology. The UK fully supports EU work in this area, such as in the Horizon 2020 Energy Programme.Geographical and cost factors mean that CSP development in North Africa is not currently of direct interest to the UK.

Boilers

Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Government's Fuel Poverty Consultation document of July 2014, if he will review his policy so that the off grid gas sector will be eligible for supporting measures such as the upgrading of old oil fired boilers.

Amber Rudd: Supporting off-grid households is an important principle in our approach to tackling fuel poverty. In England, the use of a new indicator – the fuel poverty gap – has highlighted the particular circumstances such households can face.We are making a number of changes to policies to ensure increased levels of support to such households. For example, we have made changes to the operation of ECO to create incentives for energy suppliers to deliver more measures in these non-gas fuelled homes, including oil fired boilers replacements. While fuel poverty is a devolved issue, ECO operates across Great Britain, and these changes could have an impact in Scotland.Furthermore, at Autumn Statement 2014, the Government announced new funding in England to support off-grid households (with Barnett consequentials).

Public Expenditure

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the table under section 2.10 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14, what the reasons are for the change in spending between 2012-13 and 2013-14 on (a) consultancy and (b) contingent labour.

Amber Rudd: Departmental expenditure on consultancies and contingent labour (temporary staff) for 2013-14 was £8.2m and £10.2m respectively (including Non- Departmental Public Bodies).Spend on consultancy increased in 2013-14 due to increased activity on project areas including the new nuclear contract and the renewables obligations under contracts for difference.Spend on contingent labour was up because of increased demands on the department, which couldn’t be met in the short term through recruitment.

Public Expenditure

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to page 98 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14, what the reasons are for the change in spending between 2012-13 and 2013-14 on leases for (a) the core department and (b) the departmental group.

Amber Rudd: The cost of building leases for the core Department increased from nil in 2012-13 to £560k in 2013-14 as a result of a new lease on additional office accommodation.The cost of building leases for the Group increased from £1,259k in 2012-13 to £2,297k in 2013-14 due to the lease by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of an additional building from December 2012 and the termination of a rent free period on a second building.

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Pensions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many retired civil servants have received late pension payments since the spin out of MyCSP in 2012.

Mr Francis Maude: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 08 January 2015.The correct answer should have been:

MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 20112014. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 20112014. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many retired civil servants have not received any pension payments from MyCSP since October 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 08 January 2015.The correct answer should have been:

MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 2014. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 2014. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many retired civil servants have received late pension payments from MyCSP since October 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 08 January 2015.The correct answer should have been:

MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 20114. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: MyCSP was spun-out as a mutual joint venture in May 2012. Mutualising MyCSP was good for staff, taxpayers and for the service they provide to pensioners. MyCSP will almost halve the cost of administering pensions within a decade, while improving services which were variable before. Employees of MyCSP have benefited through dividends, which they have received in both years since mutualisation. Staff survey figures show rising staff engagement and a decline in sickness absence.MyCSP Ltd took over administration of the pensioner payroll in September 20114. Legacy problems were inherited from the previous supplier, including 5,579 cases where payments had already been delayed or missed by September 2014. MyCSP have now cleared all but 422 of these cases and MyCSP has switched available resources to reduce the remaining backlog as quickly as possible.Since October 2014 there have been 1197 cases of delayed payment, most of which were the result of ongoing delays of the historic cases inherited from the previous supplier in September 2014.Since October 2014 36 overseas pensioners have been awaiting payments. 33 of these are still outstanding because new banking mandates need to be completed to allow processing by the new paying bank.MyCSP are doing everything possible to clear all remaining cases where payments are still due but are in many cases dependent on employers or pensioners themselves for the necessary information to do so. Where delayed payment has caused hardship MyCSP have been making emergency interim payments to members. The majority of the scheme’s 658,000 pensioners have been paid accurately and on time since September 2014.

Staff

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff were employed in his Department on 1 January 2015.

Mr Francis Maude: Information about the size of the Cabinet Office workforce is published on the Cabinet Office website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data and on data.gov.uk at http://data.gov.uk/dataset/workforce-management-information-cabinet-office .Information about the Cabinet Office workforce is also published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts which are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts

Furniture

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) desks and (b) workstations there are in his Department; and what the average annual cost to his Department is of leasing each desk.

Mr Francis Maude: Information on the Cabinet Office estate is available through the annual ‘State of the Estate’ report. A link to the report is below.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-2013The Cabinet Office does not lease any desks.

Opinion Polls

Mr Mike Weir: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what payments his Department has made to Ipsos-Mori for opinion polling since 1 June 2014; and what the purpose was of such polling.

Mr Mike Weir: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on opinion polling on attitudes in Scotland towards Scottish independence since 1 January 2013; and under what cost headings such money has been spent.

Mr Francis Maude: As part of this Government's transparency programme, we publish spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.

Beer: Industry

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs related to the brewing industry in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK.

Mr Rob Wilson: Holding answer received on 08 January 2015



The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobs in Brewing Industry
(PDF Document, 101.04 KB)

Voluntary Work: Hertfordshire

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what future plans he has for the National Citizen Service in the North East Hertfordshire constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson: 817 young people took part in National Citizen Service (NCS) in North East Hertfordshire and surrounding area in 2014.This year will again see NCS programmes taking place in every local authority across England, giving more young people the opportunity to take part in this life changing programme.The government is committed to giving as many young people as possible the chance to take part in NCS and the significant growth of that the programme has seen so far is set to continue this year.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Telephone Preference Service

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that telephone preference services are able to block international nuisance calls as well as domestic ones.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003 already prevent international nuisance marketing calls being made on behalf of UK companies. Callers are legally required to ensure they do not call a number that is registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). UK consumers are also protected if they have previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls. Callers can be subject to fines of up to £500,000 for breaching the regulations. International marketing calls on behalf of non-UK companies are outside of the UK’s jurisdiction.

UK City of Culture: Kingston upon Hull

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how his Department plans to ensure that Hull will learn lessons from Londonderry as the UK City of Culture in 2013.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS officials recently visited Hull to discuss progress made with preparations for UK City of Culture 2017 and Hull will provide DCMS with a formal report on progress early this year. The CEO of Hull City of Culture has visited Derry~Londonderry to meet the CEOs of the City Council and Culture Company to ensure that lessons learned from UK City of Culture 2013 are incorporated into planning for 2017. Derry~Londonderry has also produced lessons learnt and evaluation reports which have been shared with Hull. DCMS will continue to support Hull in the run-up to 2017.

Film: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department makes it a requirement of supporting the Film Fund that companies in receipt of Film Fund funding provide only paid (a) internships and (b) apprenticeships.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Companies in receipt of British Film Institute (BFI) Lottery Film Funding are subject to employment law.

Deputy Prime Minister

General Election 2015

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what plans there are to ensure a higher turnout at the General Election among people aged 18 to 25.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is committed to maximising electoral registration to help support the highest possible turnout in elections. To ensure this, Government has introduced individual electoral registration (IER). Young people aged 18-25 have been one of the biggest users of online registration to vote since its introduction in June. Since 1 July 2014, 826,265 young people have applied to register online.   The Government has today announced that almost £10 million will be given to local authorities and to national activity to boost the number of people registering to vote around the country. This is in addition to the £4.2 million announced last year.  £6.8 million of the funding being announced today has been allocated to local authorities so that they can expand their programmes of canvassing and other activities aimed at encouraging people in their areas to register to vote. Up to £2.5 million will be used to fund wider activity, including working with national organisations to encourage groups who are not as well represented on the electoral register in general, such as young people including students and overseas voters.

Department of Health

Tattooing

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have had tattoos removed on the NHS in each of the last three financial years.

Jane Ellison: The information is not held. Cosmetic procedures are not usually available through the National Health Service.

Breasts: Plastic Surgery

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have had breast enhancement surgery for cosmetic or non medical reasons in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held. Cosmetic surgery is not usually available through the National Health Service.

Vulnerable Adults

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate support systems are in place for older vulnerable people and people with dementia.

Norman Lamb: We are committed to ensuring that older vulnerable adults and their carers receive the best possible support in all settings through the Proactive Care Programme, and by ensuring all people aged 75 and over have a named general practitioner (GP) with overall responsibility for their care, providing continuity and oversight of their care. People living with dementia will benefit from this patient focused care.   From April 2015, councils and the National Health Service will pool £5.3 billion of their local budgets under the Better Care Fund. This will require local authorities and the NHS to work together, and engage local partners, including voluntary sector organisations. It is expected that local areas will use some of this to improve care for people with dementia, such as providing access to dementia advisors, reminiscence services and counselling.   Dementia is a key priority for this Government which is why in 2012 we launched the first ever Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia to increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research in dementia by 2015.   Since the launch of the Challenge, we have made significant progress across all three strands of the challenge including:   - on 28 February 2014, the Secretary of State for Health announced his ambition for improving dementia care and support for people with dementia, their family and carers. This signalled the importance of a tailored plan of care as part of a package of high quality, personalised dementia care and support;   - in the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed;   - the Dementia Care and Support Compact, the care sector’s own response to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, sets out a commitment to support the delivery of the challenge and improve care and support for people with dementia, their carers and families;   - on 1 April, we put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service which has had over 80% take up by GPs to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia;   - on 22 May, we launched the Dementia Roadmap web based navigation aid with the Royal College of General Practitioners to assist primary care staff effectively support patients, families and carers at the time of diagnosis and throughout the dementia journey; and   - on 10 September 2014, NHS England published a new Dementia Toolkit aimed at helping GPs make a more timely diagnosis and what they can do in terms of vital post-diagnostic support.

NHS: Private Sector

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218445, how much the NHS spent on commissioning private providers in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is provided in the table below:   YearSpend on independent providers £ million2009-104,1442010-114,7572011-125,3202012-135,6692013-146,554 Independent providers, both for-profit and not-for-profit, have long through successive governments been providing care to National Health Service patients. Under this Government competition between providers of NHS services has been pursued on the basis of competition for quality through a system of fixed national tariffs. Our position on who should provide services is taken to ensure patients receive the best possible services and outcomes. These decisions are taken by the local clinicians, who are best placed to act for the benefit of their patients.

Social Services: Third Sector

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the charitable sector can play an increased role in adult social care.

Norman Lamb: The Government appreciates that voluntary sector organisations make a substantial contribution to the delivery of high quality local health and social care services. Their unique understanding of local communities often means that they are better placed than others to reach those vulnerable and sometimes hard to reach groups. They have a strong track-record of designing, providing and supporting services based on insight into clients’ needs, and are often well placed to respond flexibly to those needs.   The Department provides over £125 million of grant funding per year to the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to help deliver better health and social care outcomes. This includes the Third Sector Investment Fund which offers grants to the voluntary and community sector to support the development of the sector, build capacity and promote innovation across health and care.   The Department also has a long history of working with the sector to develop policy. For example, the development of legislation and the regulations and guidance for the Care Act 2014 were produced in collaboration with expert reference groups including a broad range of VCSE organisations.   The Care Act also gives local authorities flexibility to delegate most of their care and support functions under the Act to another body, although the local authority will retain overall responsibility for the fulfilment of the function. Such delegation can include the voluntary sector where appropriate. In recognition of the important role of the VCSE sector in adult social care, the Act also gives local authorities a new duty to promote a diverse provider market.

General Dental Council

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of increases in the General Dental Council registration fee on availability of NHS dentists.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The increase in the General Dental Council (GDC) registration fee is not expected to impact on the availability of dentists for the National Health Service. All dentists must be registered with the GDC in order to practice whether this is for the NHS or privately.

Obesity

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of obesity care of the recent ruling by the European Court of Justice ruling that obesity can constitute a disability under certain circumstances.

Jane Ellison: The ruling by the European Court of Justice does not change the Department’s policies on obesity. We will continue to work to help people to improve their diet and reduce physical inactivity, alongside working with partners to shape an environment where the healthier choice is the easier choice.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to develop more regional managed clinical neuromuscular networks.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department and NHS England are taking to increase the number and availability of hydrotherapy pools for people living with (a) neuromuscular and (b) other long-term debilitating conditions.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that sufficient funding is available for wheelchair services for neuromuscular patients with complex needs.

Norman Lamb: Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for commissioning specialised neurological services, which includes services for patients with neuromuscular disorders. NHS England has published a service specification for neurological care, which sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. The specification can be found at the following link:   www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf   Specialised neuromuscular care may include referral to local or specialised physiotherapy, hydrotherapy or rehabilitation if appropriate. Provision of hydrotherapy services is a matter for the local National Health Service and may be accessed by patients with neuromuscular and other long-term debilitating conditions, subject to assessment and referral.   Neuromuscular patients may also be referred for enabling equipment such as wheelchairs adaptations and environmental controls in line with their clinical commissioning group or specialist rehabilitation referral criteria, subject to the complexity of need.   NHS England is currently undertaking a review of wheelchair services, led by Rosamond Roughton, National Director of Commissioning Development, which will consider provision across both specialised and non-specialised wheelchairs.   NHS England has set up strategic clinical networks (SCNs) for neurological conditions to provide clinical expertise and guidance. Alongside SCNs, Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) are working with commissioners, providers and patients to ensure the delivery of safe and effective services across the patient pathway and help secure the best outcomes for all people with neurological conditions. Providers are at liberty to set up an ODN for neuromuscular services if they consider it would benefit service provision locally.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will increase the number of specialist diabetes teams in GP practices and health centres as a measure to prevent diabetes-related amputations.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many diabetes-related amputations there were in each county in the last three years.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce diabetes-related amputations.

Jane Ellison: NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility for determining the overall approach to improving clinical outcomes from healthcare services for people with diabetes. There are various actions at a national level to help ensure that all patients with diabetes receive good quality care, including foot care.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published clinical guidance and quality standards on the treatment of diabetes and its complications. The NICE Diabetes Quality Standard is clear that people with diabetes who are at risk of foot ulceration should receive regular reviews by a foot protection team in accordance with its clinical guidance. The Health and Social Care Act (2012) places a duty on NHS England to have regard to the NICE Quality Standards. CCGs should also have regard to them in planning and delivering services, as part of a general duty to secure a continuous improvement in quality.   As part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), general practitioners are remunerated for assessing nerve damage and poor blood supply to the feet in people with diabetes on an annual basis. Information is collected annually both through the QOF returns and through the National Diabetes Audit (NDA).   The new National Diabetes Foot Care Audit, a module of the NDA, aims to establish the extent to which national guidelines on the management of diabetic foot disease are being met. The audit will provide local teams with the evidence needed to tackle any identified differences in practice which will lead in turn to an overall improvement in management and outcomes for patients. Local and national level results will be available in March 2016.   People with active diabetic foot disease should be referred up to the hospital-based multidisciplinary diabetic foot teams and seen within 24 hours of referral. There has been an increase in the proportion of trusts with multidisciplinary diabetic footcare teams, from around 60% in 2011 to 72% in 2013.   Diabetic foot disease is also a focus of the cardiovascular Strategic Clinical Networks across England, with an emphasis on rolling out best practice.   The attached table gives a count of finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of diabetes and a primary or secondary procedure of amputation between 2010-11 and 2012-13 as well as the number of diabetes patients from the 2009-10 and 2010-11 diabetes audits having an amputation the following year. The figures have been divided by primary care trust as we do not hold this data in the format requested.   Reference should be made to the notes provided with the table when interpreting these figures.   



FCEs- Diabetes diagnosis- amputations 2010-13
(Excel SpreadSheet, 50 KB)

Diabetes: South West

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of diabetes-related amputations which took place in the last three years in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset which could have been prevented.

Jane Ellison: It is the responsibility of NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine the overall approach to improving clinical outcomes from healthcare services for people with diabetes.   We are advised by NHS England that the Northern Eastern and Western Devon, Kernow, Dorset, South Devon and Torbay and Somerset CCGs are undertaking a range of measures to address the number of diabetes related amputations in their respective areas.

Supermarkets

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with supermarkets as part of the Responsibility Deal.

Jane Ellison: There are regular and ongoing discussions between Departmental officials and the major high street retailers about the voluntary partnership with industry and others to encourage them to continue to commit to play their part to improve public health. Details of the supermarkets that are members of the voluntary partnership can be found at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/partners/   Information about formal high level Steering Group meetings is also available on the Responsibility Deal website.

Locums

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2014 to Question 214838, if he will make it his policy to identify locum doctors separately within the information collected by his Department on spend on agency and contract staff.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are no plans to expand data collections to include information on locum doctors employed by agencies. It is important to ensure that the burden of data collection on National Health Service organisations is kept to a minimum, helping them to keep their administrative costs low so they can concentrate on delivering good patient care. It is the responsibility of NHS organisations to have a firm grip on their workforce planning and management including their use of locum doctors.

Mental Illness: Children

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether funding will be made available to ensure that the Prevalence Study on Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain covers the same data sets to enable it to be comparable to the 2004 survey.

Norman Lamb: The Department is in the process of commissioning a new prevalence survey of children and young people’s mental health that is comparable to the 2004 survey. Ministers are currently considering options for the new survey informed by advice from a range of academics and researchers, health and care professionals and their representative bodies, commissioners and survey suppliers. The Department hopes to announce the procurement phase of the survey in the near future.   Final decisions on the scope, sample size, methodology and questionnaire have not yet been made and it is not possible to pre-empt them at this stage or to say exactly what the new survey will cover, although it is likely to provide some data on characteristics such as ethnicity.

Liver Diseases

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support the early identification of liver disease.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has a comprehensive range of action aimed at reducing the incidence and mortality from liver disease. It monitors the incidence, mortality and outcomes of treatment for liver disease and the risk factors: alcohol obesity and hepatitis B and C. PHE has a wide range of action to tackle unhealthy alcohol consumption, obesity and viral hepatitis through strengthening local action, promoting healthy choices, and giving appropriate information to support healthier lives.   In response to the All Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group report PHE has committed to producing a PHE Liver Disease Framework. This will focus on public health action to tackle risk factors for liver disease and inequalities in relation to liver disease. Work has already begun to bring together expertise within PHE on the major risk factors for liver disease (alcohol, hepatitis B and C and obesity), data on liver disease and its risk factors and on death and dying from liver disease. PHE has also issued liver profiles to each local authority area, which include information about hepatitis C, as well as modelling tools to assist local commissioners in establishing need at local level. Many of the actions to tackle the major risk factors require a coordinated approach between PHE and NHS England.   NHS England is responsible for delivering improvements in outcomes against the NHS Mandate and in line with the NHS Outcomes Framework. NHS England is adopting a broad strategy for delivering improvements in relation to premature mortality, working with commissioners and PHE to support clinical commissioning groups in understanding where local challenges lie and in identifying the evidence in relation to the priorities for reducing mortality at a national level.

Doctors: Working Hours

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission research into the average numbers of hours worked by doctors in hospital medicine compared with their historical equivalents.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are no plans to commission research into this area. It is for National Health Service employers to ensure that employees’ working hours fall within the employment contract agreed with staff and that the working hours are consistent with the relevant employment legislation.

Lyme Disease

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people each year are diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Jane Ellison: The total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease in England and Wales for the last nine years is listed in the table below:   Total reported cases200420052006200720082009201020112012Lyme disease in England and Wales5005957687978138639059591,040 Since 2010 hospital laboratories are required to report positive diagnoses of Lyme disease to public health authorities. These laboratory data are collated by Public Health England and published regularly.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much clinical commissioning groups in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk spent on salaries and wages for (i) general and senior managers, (ii) nurses and midwives and (iii) administrative and clerical staff in each year since their inception.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information is not available for every clinical commissioning group (CCG) requested.   Information on how much CCGs in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk spent on salaries and wages for (i) managers and senior managers, (ii) qualified midwifery and health nursing staff and (iii) administrative and clerical staff for 2013-14 is in the table below:Managers and senior managersQualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staffAdmin and clerical staffSuffolk1 NHS West Suffolk CCG£5,405,305£336,754£1,599,079NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney CCG1£1,670,798£414,275£661,367Bedfordshire NHS Bedfordshire CCG£3,741,697£514,422£1,118,727NHS Luton CCG£1,320,940£198,582£505,207Cambridgeshire NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG £2,422,647£561,384£2,640,130Essex NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG£567,495*£337,640NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG£407,702*£259,035NHS Mid Essex CCG£780,923£364,799£1,136,240NHS North East Essex CCG£864,616*£1,098,138NHS Southend CCG£972,910£356,912£574,193NHS Thurrock CCG£331,591*£169,836NHS West Essex CCG£1,032,463£375,640£1,371,972Hertfordshire NHS East and North Hertfordshire CCG£1,789,417£106,725£692,885NHS Herts Valleys CCG£1,561,066-£573,772Norfolk NHS North Norfolk CCG£564,737*£405,318NHS Norwich CCG£726,744-£288,031NHS South Norfolk CCG£954,474*£528,648NHS West Norfolk CCG£495,501-£257,962 Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS Staff Earnings: Estimates.   Notes:  There is no data available for Ipswich and East Suffolk CCG; this may be due to its hosting arrangements. NHS West Suffolk CCG and NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk CCG share a Management Delivery Team (hosted by NHS West Suffolk CCG).Great Yarmouth and Waveney CCG cannot be split between Great Yarmouth and Waveney, and for the purposes of this table has been included in Suffolk.The majority of CCGs opened in April 2013, so only one year of complete total earnings data is available.Figures in the table are provisional NHS Staff Earnings estimates.The following key applies: - Not applicable * Data is obscured as the group had 5 or fewer staff, in line with The Data Protection Act As expected with provisional data, some figures may be revised prior to the next publication as issues are uncovered and resolved.Figures rounded to the nearest pound.These figures represent payments made using the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system to NHS Staff who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations.Figures based on data from all English NHS organisations who are using ESR (two foundation trusts do not use ESR).Figures are based on staff with contracted hours more than zero. Bank and locum staff that typically have no contracted hours are not included in these figures.These statistics include "negative" payments - for example instances where a payment field has had money subtracted to correct an overpayment.The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses.As from 21 July 2010 the Health and Social Care Information Centre has published provisional monthly NHS workforce data. As expected with provisional statistics, some figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data is not directly comparable with the annual workforce census; it only includes those staff on the ESR (i.e. it does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff), it also includes locum doctors (not counted in the annual census). There are also new methods of presenting data (headcount methodology is different and there is now a role count). This information is available from September 2009 onwards at the following website: www.hscic.gov.uk

Hepatitis: Drugs

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what response he has made to the request by NHS England to defer implementation of the guidance on sofosbuvir for hepatitis C.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NICE guidance on the use of sofosbuvir for treating hepatitis C will be published.

George Freeman: As an independent body, it is for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in consultation with stakeholders, to consider NHS England’s request to defer implementation of its guidance on sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.   NICE recently consulted on extending the funding period and we understand that NICE expects to publish the outcome of that consultation, along with its final draft guidance on sofosbuvir, later this month. The Department’s response to the consultation will be published alongside other stakeholders’ comments. We are confident that NICE will carefully consider all the comments it has received before taking a final decision.   NICE currently expects to publish its final guidance on sofosbuvir in February 2015, although this is subject to any appeals being received.

NHS: Equality

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to ensure NHS-wide implementation of the refreshed Equality Delivery System; and how the implementation of that system will be evaluated.

Norman Lamb: The refreshed Equality Delivery System (EDS2) is a tool designed to help local NHS organisations, in discussion with local partners, including local communities, to review and improve their equality performance for characteristics given protection under the Equality Act 2010.   During 2012, implementation of this tool featured as part of the criteria for the authorisation of clinical commissioning groups in England; EDS2 now features in NHS England’s Assurance Framework for Clinical Commissioning Groups. EDS2 has been embedded within the Care Quality Commission’s new inspection regime for hospitals, and is scheduled to be included in the NHS Standard Contract from April 2015.   A survey exercise carried out by NHS England during 2014 indicated that over 93% of all NHS clinical commissioning groups and NHS provider organisations were implementing the Equality Delivery System.   The programme of work on EDS2 includes continuous evaluation, overseen by NHS England. A national ‘EDS2 Dashboard’ is being finalised that will monitor uptake of the tool by organisations, and highlight good practice and outcomes.   These actions will ensure that the refreshed EDS2 receives system-wide implementation across the NHS in England, and that its effectiveness is monitored and evaluated on a continuous basis.

Medical Treatments

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Minister for Life Sciences' announcement on 20 November 2014 on considering how to speed-up patient access to medicines, devices and diagnostics, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NICE and (b) NHS England on that matter.

George Freeman: The review of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology will consider how to speed up access for National Health Service patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices. Officials have already had preliminary discussions with both the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England, and these will continue as the review progresses.

Mental Illness: Children

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provisions are in place within the Prevalence Study on Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britian to sub-sample the population by ethnicity.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Prevalence Study on Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britian contains data on (a) children under five, (b) young poeple over 15, (c) BME populations, (d) LGBT young people, (e) migrant children, (f) asylum seekers and (g) children in detention centres.

Norman Lamb: The Department is in the process of commissioning a new prevalence survey of children and young people’s mental health that is comparable to the 2004 survey. Ministers are currently considering options for the new survey informed by advice from a range of academics and researchers, health and care professionals and their representative bodies, commissioners and survey suppliers. The Department hopes to announce the procurement phase of the survey in the near future.   Final decisions on the scope, sample size, methodology and questionnaire have not yet been made and it is not possible to pre-empt them at this stage or to say exactly what the new survey will cover, although it is likely to provide some data on characteristics such as ethnicity.

Cancer

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle inequalities among BME communities' awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and patient experience of cancer care.

Jane Ellison: Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (2011) set out our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives every year by 2014-15, and to narrow the inequalities gap at the same time. This strategy is backed by over £750 million, and although final figures will not be known for some time, projections show that we could be on course to save 10,000 lives over this time period.   Since 2010-11 the Department and Public Health England (PHE), since 2013, in partnership with NHS England (including NHS Improving Quality (NHS IQ)) and other stakeholders have run Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) campaigns to raise the public’s awareness of cancer signs and symptoms; and encourage people with those signs and symptoms to go to the doctor promptly. As part of these campaigns, PHE works with a specialist multicultural marketing consultancy to develop activities with black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. Activities include targeted television, radio and press advertising in key national, regional and specialist media. As part of the BME public relations activity, healthcare professionals and cancer survivors from ethnic minorities (where possible), are recruited to participate in media interviews to address the barriers preventing early presentation to general practitioners (GPs).   A pilot BCOC campaign was run in six boroughs of London between October and November 2014 to raise awareness of the increased risk of prostate cancer amongst black men aged over 45. Early findings from the qualitative evaluation show that the majority of respondents demonstrated some awareness of seeing, hearing or taking some action about prostate cancer over the last few months and that GPs welcomed the campaign and were aware of the local activity.   To reduce inequalities in cancer treatment and to support the National Health Service to tackle regional variations we are providing data to providers and commissioners that allow them to benchmark their services and outcomes against one another and to identify where improvements need to be made. In June 2014, the National Cancer Intelligence Network published a second annual report on Cancer and equality groups: key metrics, which highlighted improvements in trusts reporting ethnic group.   To help cancer teams and professionals in trusts and support continual improvement in cancer patient experience, NHS IQ and Macmillan Cancer Support produced An Introductory Guide to Quality Improvement in November 2014. NHS IQ is launching a pioneering project that pairs highly-rated cancer trusts with trusts that have potential to improve their patient experience. This is a drive to reduce national variation in patients’ experience of care and raise overall standards. NHS IQ is also running events in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support and NHS England to look at how cancer patient experience data is used by commissioners.   Through the National Cancer Equality Initiative we will continue to work with NHS England and relevant stakeholders to reduce inequalities in cancer care.

Cancer

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the trust-level reports of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey are more readily accessible to patients and the public.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the quality and availability of practical and emotional support services for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Jane Ellison: The 2014 Cancer Patient Experience Survey reported that 93% of cancer patients surveyed who were being treated with radiotherapy and or chemotherapy received emotional support.   The survey also reported that the majority of cancer patients who took part in the survey said they received advice on practical matters such as availability of support groups (83%) and free prescriptions (78%). Just over half of patients surveyed reported receiving advice on financial help and benefits. NHS England recognises there may be opportunities for improvement in this area.   Living With and Beyond Cancer, a new joint initiative between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer Care, is currently in development. Areas the initiative is planning to focus on include ensuring all cancer patients have access to holistic needs assessment, treatment summary, cancer care review and a patient education and support event – the ‘Recovery Package’.   Cancer Patient Survey Trust level reports are published online at:   http://www.quality-health.co.uk/surveys/national-cancer-patient-experience-survey

Drugs: Scotland

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the announcement made by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 7 October 2014, if he will introduce a scheme similar to the New Medicines Fund in England.

George Freeman: The Government has no plans to do so.   In August 2014, we announced an additional £160 million for the Cancer Drugs Fund. This increases the budget of the Cancer Drugs Fund from £200 million to £280 million in 2014-15 and 2015-16.   The Government is implementing all of the commitments in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) on improving access to innovative medicines commensurate with the outcomes they offer patients. In addition, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry are pressing ahead with plans to maximise the benefits of the PPRS by improving access to and optimising the use of medicines to improve patient outcomes.

NHS: Costs

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of undiagnosed conditions and conditions picked up while in hospital.

Dr Daniel Poulter: No estimate has been made of the annual cost to the NHS of undiagnosed conditions.   Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record details of all admissions, outpatient appointments and Accident and Emergency attendances at NHS hospitals in England. However, the HES diagnosis code(s) used to describe the reason(s) a person is in hospital does not differentiate between a pre-existing condition and a condition being diagnosed for the first time. Therefore, no estimate can be made of the cost of conditions being picked up in hospital.

Digestive System: Older People

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the guidance issued to doctors and nurses on diagnosing blocked bowels in the elderly.

Norman Lamb: Responsibility for continence services sits with NHS England and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). NHS England has advised that no assessment has been made on the effectiveness on the guidance issued to doctors and nurses on diagnosing blocked bowels in the elderly.   NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of specialised colorectal services and has produced a number of service specifications on various types of incontinence, clearly defining what is expected to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. Service specifications published by NHS England on colorectal services include Colorectal Complex Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Adult) and Colorectal services: faecal incontinence (adults).   CCGs are responsible for commissioning a high quality continence service for their local populations and performance managing their providers in the delivery of high quality services.   We expect providers of colorectal services and continence care to take into account any relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on diagnosing blocked bowels.

NHS: Per Capita Costs

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total public expenditure per head of population was on (a) capital and (b) running costs of the NHS in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Hertfordshire, (vi) Norfolk and (vii) England in each year since 1997.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not collect any information for the National Health Service by county or English region. Individual trusts have therefore been grouped together by region based on their geographical location.   Capital spend per head of population for 2007-08 to 2013-14 for primary care trusts, NHS trusts and foundation trusts collectively, and the Department of Health Group as a whole (England only) are shown in the table below.   Region2007-08 £2008-09 £2009-10 £2010-11 £2011-12 £2012-13 £2013-14 £Bedfordshire24.1231.9031.0042.1532.3034.4640.60Suffolk23.6625.9827.8729.5133.0942.4822.10Cambridgeshire72.5885.4566.3562.5345.0049.0252.83Essex44.7943.7759.6046.7531.0623.3058.11Hertfordshire34.2541.5240.6633.2836.7430.7749.61Norfolk27.6943.8051.3443.1628.9036.3126.87England78.2385.3099.7379.4271.6571.3980.74   Source: Audited summarisation schedules of NHS bodies, 2007-08 to 2013-14; Departmental Group Resource Account 2007-08 to 2013-14; Monitor   Running costs per head of population for 2007-08 to 2013-14 by primary care trust and the Department of Health Group (England only) are shown in the table below.   Region2007-08 £2008-09 £2009-10 £2010-11 £2011-12 £2012-13 £2013-14 £Bedfordshiren/an/an/an/a44.1554.03n/aSuffolkn/an/an/an/a30.6032.84n/aCambridgeshiren/an/an/an/a43.3541.44n/aEssexn/an/an/an/a48.6346.20n/aHertfordshiren/an/an/an/a41.0042.02n/aNorfolkn/an/an/an/a29.0633.39n/aEnglandn/an/an/an/a62.8366.0956.36   Source: Audited summarisation schedules of Primary Care Trusts, 2011-12 to 2012-13; Departmental Group Resource Account 2011-12 to 2013-14   Running costs per head of population for the clinical commissioning groups have been summarised within the following NHS England Area Team areas for 2013-14 in the table below.   Area Team2013-14£East Anglia20.82Essex21.43Hertfordshire and the South Midlands21.04   Source: NHS England   Information on running costs was not separately identified in the accounts prior to 2011-12.   Information on NHS trust and foundation trust running costs is not available centrally.

Homeopathy

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he has met which (a) representatives of and (b) organisations working on behalf of the homeopathy industry since 2012.

Jane Ellison: Ministers have had no meetings with representatives or organisations from the homeopathy industry since 2012.

University Hospital of Hartlepool

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will meet (a) the hon. Member for Hartlepool and (b) representatives from Hartlepool Borough Council to discuss the issue of transferring hospital services back to the University Hospital of Hartlepool; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: In line with the Government’s commitment to devolve power to communities, decisions about NHS services are essentially a matter for the NHS locally in consultation with the communities they serve.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer to Question 219055, which areas are piloting enhanced access to mental health practitioners.

Dr Daniel Poulter: All NHS 111 areas receive mental health calls and use algorithms within NHS Pathways to enable assessment; receiving additional support from nurses as required.   There are four areas that are piloting enhanced access to mental health practitioners, either within the NHS 111 call centre or by transferring to teams outside. NHS England is in the process of finalising which locations will take forward the NHS 111 pilot areas and NHS England will make an announcement when this process has been completed.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to introduce three parent IVF treatment.

Jane Ellison: On 17 December 2014 the Government laid affirmative regulations in Parliament to allow the use of mitochondrial donation techniques in clinical practice to prevent the transmission of serious mitochondrial disease from mother to child. A Written Ministerial Statement was issued on 17 December 2014 and is available at the following link:   http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2014-12-17/HCWS132/   The mitochondrial DNA provided by the donor represents less than 0.1% of the total DNA and does not contribute to personal characteristics or traits. These come from nuclear DNA, which is provided solely by the child’s mother and father. The Government therefore would not describe mitochondrial donation as “three parent IVF”.

Ebola

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of quarantine arrangements for people arriving in the UK from Sierra Leone; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Medical advice, including from the Chief Medical Officer, is clear that quarantining returning healthcare workers, or others coming to the United Kingdom from Sierra Leone, is not a proportionate response to the level of risk Ebola represents to the public at this time. However, all protocols and procedures are kept under careful review, guided by the best scientific evidence, to ensure they remain appropriate in the light of changing circumstances   In addition, UK hospitals are well prepared to handle infectious disease and any patient displaying symptoms would be cared for by specialist staff in an isolation unit.